Glaciation-induced features or sediment gravity flows – An analytic review
Bibliographic record
Abstract
For more than 150 years, geologic characteristics claimed to be evidence for pre-Pleistocene glaciations have been debated. Advancements in recent decades, in understanding features generated by mainly glacial and mass flow processes, are here reviewed. Detailed studies of data offered in support of pre-Pleistocene glaciations have led to revisions that involve environments of mass movements. Similarities and differences between Quaternary glaciogenic and mass movement features are examined, to provide a more systematic methodology for analysing the origins of more ancient deposits. Analyses and evaluation of data are from a) Quaternary glaciogenic sediments, b) formations which have been assigned to pre-Pleistocene glaciations, and c) formations with comparable features associated with mass movements (and occasionally tectonics). Multiple proxies are assembled to develop correct interpretations of ancient strata. The aim is not per se to reinterpret specific formations and past climate changes, but to enable data to be evaluated using a broader and more inclusive conceptual framework. Regularly occurring pre-Pleistocene features interpreted to be glaciogenic, have often been shown to have few or no Quaternary glaciogenic equivalents. These same features commonly form by sediment gravity flows or other non-glacial processes, which may have led to misinterpretations of ancient deposits. These features include, for example, environmental affinity of fossils, grading, bedding, fabrics, size and appearance of erratics, polished and striated clasts and surfaces (“pavements”), dropstones, and surface microtextures. Recent decades of progress in research relating to glacial and sediment gravity flow processes have resulted in proposals by geologists, based on more detailed field data, more often of an origin by mass movements and tectonism than glaciation. The most coherent data of this review, i.e., appearances of features produced by glaciation, sediment gravity flows and a few other geological processes, are summarized in a Diamict Origin Table.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.004 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.005 | 0.006 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.007 | 0.002 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".